Sudipta Sarangi, Professor of Economics, Virginia Tech

Thursday, November 30, 2023, the seminar is led by Sudipta Sarangi, Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at Virginia Tech.
His research focuses on network formation: the role of costs, benefits and technology, and how they interact to create individually stable and socially optimal networks, using tools such as game theory and graph theory.

• Applied game theory
• Experimental economics
• Development economics

CV

Title: Insights from Two Experiments: Using Role Models and Using ChatGPT.

Abstract: In this talk I will provide insights from two different experiments. One experiment involves a Large Language Model (LLM) making decisions which is currently being promoted as a big decision-making aid. The second experiment is a light touch intervention that involves the use of role models to nudge girls towards STEM domains. The first experiment examines how ChatGPT plays the Little Treasures of Game Theory a la Goeree and Holt (2001).  In other words, it explores how an LLM trained on human text behaves in strategic settings. In the second experiment which is an RCT, female engineering students act as role-models for high school students in Peru. We find that a brief 20-minute interaction with the role models led to an increase in preferences towards engineering in a select group, but context is key. The paper also explores potential channels underlying this effect.

13h30, room 227